The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Pelargonium.times.domesticum known by the varietal name `Baroness` (Oglevee No. 416; `Walters Sunrise`, No. 26). The new variety was discovered in a selected breeding program in Hucknall, Nottingham, Great Britain in the early to mid 1980's. The parentage of the new variety is not known with certainty but the breeding program of Ernest Walters, deceased, which extended more than 30 years, is described in a Walters article published in Volume 110, Part 8, August 1985, Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society. The new variety was first received in the United States in 1986 and was asexually reproduced by cuttings at Oglevee, Ltd. in Connellsville, Pa. in 1986. The new variety has been asexually reproduced by cuttings at Oglevee Ltd. in Connellsville, Pa. over a several year period. It has also been trial and field tested at Connellsville and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations.
The cultivar when grown in a glass greenhouse in Connellsville, Pa. using natural light and 60.degree. F. night, 68.degree. F. day and 71.degree. F. vent, has a response time of 14 weeks from a rooted cutting to flowering in a 6 inch pot. The response time was determined on plants grown in soilless media employing constant fertilizer 150-200 parts per million of nitrogen and potassium in full light. The rooted cuttings were potted on Nov. 2, 1992 and flowerd on Feb. 8, 1993.